


Skate to Your Heart

by c00kie



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, alternate universe- skater, skate punk au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-04-12 08:13:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 15,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4471946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/c00kie/pseuds/c00kie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Benji Wyatt loves skateboarding. He loves Leslie Knope even more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Interested

**Author's Note:**

> This AU was co-created by Ashisfriendly. Thank you Ash, and to everyone who has read this series on tumblr.

It’s the same every morning. He gets up, goes to school and skates around with Andy and April in the parking lot until the bell rings.

And every morning, she walks by him, pink backpack sitting firm on both shoulders, binder clutched to her chest, blonde hair shimmering in the sunlight.

It’s possible he’s imagining the last thing.

Every morning, Benji tries to get her attention by doing a trick, but she doesn’t seem to notice.

“You’re such a loser,” April says, every morning. 

He has two classes with Leslie. In both, they sit on opposite sides of the room. There was one time when they were put together for a group project, but she did all the work that night, which was actually really annoying. Did she not have any faith in him?

“She probably doesn’t even know who you are.” Said by Stephanie, after Ben put the question to her.

After school it’s the same thing. He skates around, waiting for her so he can show her his best moves, and she just passes him like she doesn’t know or care just how cool a heel flip is.

But then one day, everything changes.

One day, she and her friend Ann walk up to them after school.

“Hi, Andy.”

“Leslie!” Andy runs over to them, followed by April who, much to Ben’s surprise, actually smiles at Leslie and says hello. Benji stays back, afraid if he tries to talk something stupid will come out.

She waves at him though. “Hi. I’m Leslie Knope.”

He nods back. “Benji.”

She smiles and looks back at Andy, asking if he’s ready for their first tutoring session. 

He’s so fucked.


	2. Impressed

All he wants to do is impress her. Ever since they “Officially” met and became acquaintances, Benji’s only wanted to get Leslie’s attention and make her proud of him. 

And the only way he can think to do that is to skate. So while she sits on Andy’s car with him after school, he skates around the parking lot with April, doing tricks in her eye view. 

“Wow!” 

Yes! He knew that would do it. Now she’ll want to kiss him for sure. 

“I knew you could do it, Andy!”

“You want to know how I did it?” 

“What did you do?” April asks, skating over to them. As Andy explains his method of remembering the day the Treaty of Versailles was signed, Ben considers his options. 

He could either pack it up and go home. 

He could keep doing what he’s been doing all afternoon and hope she eventually sees and jumps off Andy’s car and throws herself on him. 

Or he could go big. And he’s heard Leslie say you should always go big or go home. 

It’s risky, but there’s a trick he knows will work. He hasn’t had a lot of practice and it could go bad, but there’s no way he’s going home. 

It goes bad. It goes so spectacularly bad that he wishes, for just a brief second, that he was dead. And then the shock fades and pain screams through him. 

“Oh my god, Benji, are you okay?” She’s running to him, kneeling beside him. Because of course she noticed that. 

“I’m fine.” He’s not fine. Why is he even pretending. He needs to sit down. 

“It’s not fine,” Leslie says, pulling him up with strength a girl her size shouldn’t have. Is she a super hero? He bets she’s a super hero.

“Yeah dude, I really don’t think your wrist is supposed to look like that.” 

“It’s awesome though. Can I take a picture?” 

Benji’s about to answer April only he throws up on the ground instead. 

“Yeah, no pictures,” Leslie says, guiding Benji to her station wagon. 

“Wait,” he says, stopping to turn around. “My board.” He can’t leave his baby. 

“Andy has it,” Leslie assures him, “isn’t that right, Andy?”

“Oh yeah! Sure thing!” 

“See?” Leslie’s got the prettiest smile. He wants to marry it. “Nothing to worry about.” 

Benji highly doubts that. 

He passes out in her car. She wakes him up, taking him into the emergency room. And somehow she manages to write all of his information down without his input, which is good because his brain seems to have two settings. Extreme pain and Leslie. 

He really hopes he’s not saying any of this out loud. 

When they come to take him inside, Benji takes Leslie’s hand with his good one. He has no idea if she’s allowed back there with him, but he doesn’t care. He needs her. 

They don’t even bother with an X-ray. 

“Oh, that’s just a dislocation,” Dr. Harris says. “What did you do?”

“A Nightmare flip.”

The doctor just stares at him. Typical lay people, not knowing what a nightmare flip was. 

“Skateboarding,” Leslie says beside him. Benji glares at her, because that’s what he just said. Instantly he feels bad and squeezes her hand to apologize. 

“Right,” Dr.Harris says, sighing. “Well I’m going to reset it. I need you to let go of his other hand.”

“Oh right!” Leslie nervously giggles and moves away and he wants to hear her giggle again and he wants her hand back he likes her hand it’s soft but then he sees her standing right behind Dr. Harris who’s crouched on a chair in front of him and he meets her eyes. 

They’re so blue. And big. They’re like an ocean. No, a sapphire. No, not a sapphire, something else. The Hope diamond is blue right? Yeah that’s it. Her eyes are the Hope diamond. 

“Fuck!” he yells as his bones get put back into place. And he thought the other part was bad. 

But never does he take his eyes from hers. Not once. 

Not until she does, while Dr. Harris wraps his hand up and tells him not to use it for two weeks and to come back and see him if it doesn’t get better or starts to turn black. 

He also gives him a prescription for some pain killers, which thrills Benji. 

“Wait,’ Benji says as they walk to her car. “Mom’s gonna kill me.” Just the other day she was complaining about insurance premiums being too high. 

“Worry about that later,” Leslie says. “Now I’m going to take you home.”

“I need my board. And my bag.”

Leslie gives him a small smile and he expects her to say they can wait and he’ll get them from Andy in the morning, but she doesn’t. She just says, “Okay, we’ll go to Andy’s house first.” 

He smiles back, grateful and closes his eyes so he can dream about blue diamonds.


	3. First Kiss

“Hi,” she says, sounding small and nervous.

“Hi,” Benji parrots, feeling like he’s floating at the sight of her wearing his hoodie. It swims on her and she has to push the sleeves up. It’s probably the cutest thing he’s ever seen. 

“Um, so, I never thanked you for taking me home the other night.”

“It’s cool,” he says, “Are you okay?”

She nods. “Yeah. I’m never smoking pot again though.”

Benji laughs. “Okay.”

“So.” Her fingers grab the silver pull tab of his hoodie. “I guess I should give this back-”

“Don’t,” he says, “it’s yours now.”

Leslie face goes all soft and she smiles and not only does he want her to keep his favorite hoodie, but he would probably give her his skateboard if she asked for it. He wonders if she knows just how crazy he is for her. “Okay. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” The first bell rings. They have five minutes to get to class. “We should go.”

“Yeah,” she says, but neither of them move.

“Leslie?”

“Hold on,” she says, putting her hand on his shoulder. “I’m working up my courage to kiss you.”

“Oh.” He’s thought about kissing Leslie a lot, but to know it’s actually going to happen makes his brain short out. But then she stands up on her tip toes and he realizes he should lean down and their lips meet.

The bell rings and she leaps away. “Oh no, I’m going to be late,” she’s yelling as she runs away, “bye, Benji, I’ll see you later! Sorry principal Howser!” She runs around the corner and disappears.

“You going to class, Mr. Wyatt?” Principal Howser asks.

“Going,” Benji says. But how he’s supposed to think about anything other than Leslie kissing him, he doesn’t know.


	4. Stole My Heart

It starts two days before, when she casually mentions her mom is going to be out of town for the weekend. Except, it isn’t casual because nothing Leslie does is casual. There is always an agenda and right now the agenda is crystal clear. She wants him to come over. 

It’s not that Benji doesn’t want to come over. He absolutely does, with every fiber of his being. It’s just, well…

“Oh,uh, that sounds cool.“ 

"Great. You can come over,I’ll make you dinner, it’ll be great.”

“You’re not going to make soup are you?”

“God, you start one little fire in home ec and no one lets you forget it.”

“You burned Jerry’s eyebrows off.”

“Well, he shouldn’t have been standing so close to the burner.”

The bell rings, ending the conversation. “Okay,” he says, leaning in to kiss her. “I’ll see you after class." 

"Bye,” she says, lips soft and tasting like cotton candy. 

Between the time Leslie tells him about her mother being gone and the actual moment she calls to let him him know that the coast is clear, Ben is in a constant state of panic. It’s not overwhelming, but it makes his body vibrate with nervous anticipation. 

He tries to calm his nerves by skating, but when he keeps messing up on simple kick flips, Ben knows that not even skating is going to help him. So he goes home, showers and packs his bag for the night. 

On the way to her house he stops at the drug store and buys two boxes of condoms, one which says is ribbed for her pleasure, a bottle of lube because it’s better to have it than not have it at least that’s what Henry’s always saying, a box of chocolate, a pack of cigarettes, gum and a lemon iced tea. The last three things are for him. 

When he gets to her house there’s a note taped to the door that says “If you are Benji, come in. If you are a thief, I know karate. Love, Leslie Knope.” The note makes him laugh and the nerves subside. 

He tears the note off the door and goes inside. There’s music playing and the house smells like apples. “Benji, is that you?” she calls out while he’s putting his stuff down. 

He goes into the kitchen where she’s mixing batter in a bowl. Seeing her with her hair in pig tails and a soft pink sweater calms him even more. "I’m not thief, if that’s what you’re asking.“

"Oh, but you are a thief because you stole my heart, Benji Wyatt." 

Benji laughs as he leans down to kiss her. "What are you making?”

“Pancakes and apple pie.”

“So the two things you know how to make.”

“Hey, I can also make cheesecake and brownies.”

“Oh, right,” he says. “Well it smells amazing.”

Leslie beams at him and it’s almost impossible not to just take the bowl out of her hands and forget about dinner, but his stomach growls and he realizes he hasn’t actually eaten all day. 

He grabs a strawberry slice and pops it into his mouth. 

“Those are for the pancakes." 

He takes another one, just to rile her up. She glares so he reaches for another. This time, she grabs his arm and pushes him back. "That’s it, you, out of the kitchen.”

“Oh come on.”

“Nope,” she says, pushing him out into the living room. “You are banned from the kitchen until dinner’s done.”

“What if I promise to be good?”

“No. You are to stay out her and pick a movie for us to watch. Nothing gross." 

"But the kitchen’s better than the living room,” he says, letting her maneuver him to the couch. “it’s where the strawberries are." 

She pushes him down and he grabs her, pulling her onto his lap. "Benji.”

“You said I had to stay out here. You didn’t say I had to let you go." 

Leslie rolls her eyes but she shifts so she’s straddling him. "You have five minutes." 

"Thirty." 

"Fifteen." 

Benji pulls her forward, not feeling like negotiating any longer. 

They end up kissing closer to forty minutes, but neither of them are keeping track until Leslie suddenly pulls away and jumps off. "Oh no, the pie!”

The pie is okay, although the edges are a little dark. Leslie frowns at it though. 

“We just won’t eat the crust,” Benji says, wrapping his arms around her and placing his chin on the top of her head. 

“It’s not that,” she says. “I just wanted tonight to perfect." 

He turns her around so he can look her in the eye. "Leslie. It’s perfect. I don’t like pie crust that much anyway.”

“That’s not true. You love the crust. You’re always stealing mine whenever we go to JJ’s.”

He sighs, because she’s right. He does like pie crust. But if he has to choose between pie crust and Leslie, she’s going to win every time. “Okay, I do, but it’s really not a big deal. The rest of the pie is still good and there are still the pancakes." 

"The pancakes!” She pulls out of his embrace and runs to the griddle, putting her hand over it. “Uh, that’s weird.”

“What?”

“It’s not hot. At all." 

He goes over to her and holds his hand over the griddle, feeling nothing. She goes to the sink and gets a glass of water, bringing back over to pour a drop on the surface. Nothing happens. 

"It’s plugged in right?”

“Yeah.” She points the the outlet where the cord is plugged in. He double checks to make sure it’s plugged into the griddle itself. 

“Huh.”

“There must be a short or something,” Leslie says. “But it’s okay, I’ll just make them in a pan.”

“Or, we could forget them and order Chinese and make out until it gets here.”

She looks thoughtful for a moment before finally nodding. “I’ll call them, you put plastic wrap on the bowl and put it back in the fridge." 

He kisses her cheek. "You got it.” 

They end up sitting on the couch watching “All the President’s Men” while they eat out of take out boxes, occasionally stealing a bite from each other. 

“You’re so good at that,” Leslie says, looking at his chopsticks.“I can never get my fingers right.”

“Oh, it’s easy,” he says, putting them down and taking hers, moving closer to her so he can show her. “Okay so you hold this finger like this, and the other like this and you use this finger move the top stick. The key is to make sure the bottom one doesn’t move.”

“Wow.” It comes out as a bare whisper and all of his stupid nerves about tonight come rushing back.

“Yeah. I’m not just a pretty face." 

She tries it on her Sweet and Sour, lifting a piece of chicken out. She holds it up and smiles triumphantly. "I got it!”

All Benji can do is smile back because he’s so in love with her it feels like the first time he ever successfully did an air 360 and his heart is racing and he can’t even think straight around her. 

And everything is happening. 

“Did you Ulani teach you?" 

"Sorry, what?”

“I asked if Ulani taught you how to use chopsticks.”

“Uh, actually it was my mom.”

“Oh. I’m sorry." 

"Yeah. Well I mean, Ulani’s not really the teaching type." 

Leslie smiles and puts her food down, sliding closer to him. "Is it weird? Your dad dating someone that young? Mom once went on a date with a guy who was twenty six and it was really weird.”

“I don’t really think about it,” Ben says, putting his own food down and his arm around her shoulder. 

They it in silence for awhile, watching the movie but then Leslie’s hand appears on his thigh, her fingers drawing on his jeans. He tries to calm himself by playing with the ends of her hair but that only makes it worse.

But then the movie ends and Leslie turns off the TV and stands up. “I’m going to put everything away. You get more comfortable.”

He watches her leave, completely confused. He knows what it means in movies when a woman says she’s going to get more comfortable, but he’s a guy. Is he supposed to strip down to his underwear? Is he supposed to be changing into something lacy and revealing? 

She comes out of the kitchen. “Why aren’t you getting ready for bed? You did bring your pj’s right?”

Oh, right. "Of course.“ 

She shakes her head at him. "Weirdo,” she says, affectionately as she goes back into the kitchen. He grabs his bag and takes it into the bathroom, changing into a blue t shirt and matching plaid pajama pants. and brushing his teeth. When he’s done, he finds Leslie waiting for him. 

“Meet me in my room,” she says sliding past him and closing the door. 

He takes his bag up to her room and takes the sack from the drug store out just as she comes in. 

“Oh, what did you get?" 

"Uh, chocolates,” Benji answers as she sits next to him. “And um, condoms." 

Leslie looks inside the bag. "Two boxes? You think we’re going to need that much?”

“It’s different kinds. I didn’t know what kind you liked." 

She bites her lip to keep but a laugh still escapes. "Oh, Benji,” she says, getting into his lap. “You’re the most thoughtful, sweetest man alive.”

“Thanks.”

She kisses him, slow and thorough and he knows this is the point of no return. 

“Wait. There’s something I need to tell you." 

Leslie blinks. "Okay?" 

"Um, right, so uh there’s something you should know before we do this. I’m uh kinda- I don’t-”

“Benji?" 

"I haven’t technically done this before.”

Leslie stares at him for a moment, her face scrunched in confusion, but then she tilts her head and says, “But you have a tongue ring!”

“I’m not completely- I’ve done mouth and hand stuff.”

“But you’re surrounded by hot girls at the skate park all the time who are all oh that Benji’s so cute how did you trick him into dating you?”

“They say that?”

“Benji!”

“Sorry,” he says smoothing his hands down her sides. Her hair is down and she’s wearing a pair of pajama pants and a tank top that lets him see and feel everything. “It’s not a big deal, it just never happened.”

“Okay. So um, do you want to? We don’t have to we can just make out or maybe do that hand and mouth stuff?”

“Leslie, I bought two boxes of condoms and lube. This is definitely happening." 

She kisses him hard and jumps off his lap. "Great. So um, should we take off our clothes or-”

“Wait.” Benji holds up his hand. “This requires taking of my clothes? No one told me that. I don’t know if-”

“Oh shut up and get naked already." 

He’s about to make a retort when she peels her tank top over her head and it’s nothing but smooth, golden freckled skin. 

Dear lord, she’s not wearing a bra. 

God he wants to touch her. But first he has to take off his own shirt and pants on okay hers are coming off and so are her panties and his brain short circuits. 

"You don’t have to stare.”

“Yes I do." 

She smiles, so soft and shy that he has to move forward to kiss her again. She presses herself against him and he strokes her back, feeling her hot skin beneath his finger tips. 

He needs more. "Hold on,” he says, stepping back so he can take off his own clothes. 

“You wear briefs?" 

"They’re comfortable." 

"They’re cute. Wait, hold on turn around.”

Benji groans but he does it, turning around so she can look at his butt. “Happy now?”

“Very,” she answers, pinching it. 

“Hey!” He turns around quickly. “I’m taking these off now.” He hooks his fingers through the waist band and peels them down to his feet, stepping out of them. 

They’re both naked. And she’s staring unabashedly at his dick. “Wow.”

“It’s okay right?” He’s pretty sure he’s a little bigger than average, but he also knows she dated that Mark guy and he’s rather tall and popular with girls so…

“Oh, that’s more than alright. It’s perfect.”

“Yeah? Well you’re beautiful.”

“Oh.” Her neck and shoulders flush pink. “Thank you. So, bed?”

“Bed,” he says and they both sit down on her bed. She lays down though and he goes with her, so they’re face to face. They lean forward, lips meeting in slow kiss. It’s her body though, pressed completely against his, her leg over his, breast crushed against his chest that completely threatens to undo him.

He moves his hands over her, trying to feel as much of her as he can. Everything about Leslie is amazing, from the way she feels to the way she sounds when he does something she likes to the way she tastes. 

“Can I go down on you?" 

"Yes.” It comes out in a breathy moan. She rolls on back and he kisses down her back, getting between her legs. 

At least he knows how to do this. 

He start slow, tracing her with his tongue, but she’s wet and pretty and making the most amazing sounds and it’s all so good that he has to just dive in and feast on her. 

She screams and bucks her hips.He reaches up and puts is hand on her stomach, pushing her down into the bed so he can keep going. 

He could spend all night here.

But then he hears her say “ow, fuck,” and he has to stop. “I’m not hurting you am I?”

“No, no, I just have a foot cramp,” she says, cringing. “It’s okay, just give me a second. It always happens when I’m close.”

“Really?”

“Yes, stop smirking. You’re very good at that. And I totally understand the appeal of the piercing now.” She makes series of uncomfortable faces while she attempts to make her foot relax. “Okay, I think that’s it. Your turn.”

“My turn? We’re still not done with you.”

“Ben, it’s fine, I want to-”

“Leslie Knope, did you cum?”

“No, but-”

“Then we’re not done. You’re just going to have to push through the cramp,” he says, pushing her back down. “I got you." 

"I-” she starts to say something, but stops the moment he flicks his tongue over her clit. 

This time, he uses his mouth and his fingers to make her climb, and it’s not long before she’s cursing, but he just offers her his free hand to hold while she pushes through the painful cramp. 

And then it happens and it’s better than landing any trick. He opens his eyes to watch her thrash and punch the bed. He keeps going, wanting her to ride it out. 

It’s only when she relaxes, breath still ragged that he pulls back. “You-”

She makes a sound that’s almost a cry but not and he has to kiss her again. She melts into him, not seeming to care that she can taste herself on his lips. He feels her hands press into his shoulders and he rolls over. 

“Do you want a blow job or do you want to skip it so I can just ride you?”

“Riding?”

“Yeah. I mean I figure it’s better if I’m on top since it’s your first time.”

Benji nods. “Right. Um, well uh, both of those sound really good so you just use your best judgment." 

The next thing Ben knows, she’s ripping open one of the condoms and rolling it on him and then she’s straddling his hips and holding him in her hand as she impales herself on him and it’s so hot and tight and wet and just everything. 

He closes his eyes and prays for God to let him redo the last thirty seconds. 

"Benji?”

“Yeah?" 

She climbs off him and comes up to his face, kissing him softly. "I love you.”

“That’s good.”

Leslie just laughs and gets off him. “Go clean up and then we’re going to try this again. We have all weekend and we’re going to practice until we get it right." 

It doesn’t take Benji very long to be ready to go again, what with the hot naked girl kissing him all over his chest and stomach. This time, he gets on top of her and she wraps her legs around his waist. "Go slow, think about your grandmother’s under things.”

“Leslie, I’m trying not to cum, not go flaccid." 

"Right. Sorry.”

He kisses her forehead and pushes in slowly, counting to one hundred by threes. It seems to work. He kisses her everywhere he can, wanting to just enjoy the way she feels around him. 

“Benji, you can move now.”

So he does, slow and slightly unsure, the whole time convinced she’s going to leave him for someone more experienced. At least he impressed her with his mouth and hand skills. 

“Faster.”

“Leslie, if I go faster-”

“Faster, please.”

Her begging makes sparks go off behind his eyes so he does what she says, thrusting faster until she’s thrashing beneath him again and latching her mouth to his neck and scraping her fingernails down his back and he’s seeing white again. 

“Fuck.” At least it was longer than thirty seconds. 

“Benji?" 

"Yeah?”

“How long did it take you to learn to do that thing where you jump and your board flips over and you land on it?”

“You mean a kick-flip?”

“Yes.”

“Um, a few hours? It took me about a week to learn how to do a nightmare flip. You know that’s the thing I was doing when I dislocated my wrist." Though obviously it took him longer to master it, given the injury.

"Awesome,” she says, though she doesn’t sound impressed. “My point is, it took you awhile to learn that, so just think of this the same way. We have all weekend to practice and get it right.” She kisses him quickly then gets out of bed. “I’ll be right back." 

Benji waits for her to come back before using the bathroom, cleaning himself off before going back to her bedroom where he finds her wearing his shirt. 

He puts on his pants and gets in with her. "You stole my shirt.”

She presses her finger to his lip. “You stole my heart.”


	5. The Lead Up

“Okay, mom. I’ll see you when you get home,” Leslie says, hanging up her phone before turning to her boyfriend who’s playing on the Sega Genesis that was gathering dust in the garage before her mom found it and Benji bought it, only to hook it up to an old television set in her room. 

She doesn’t mind though. Ann says it’s a sign of commitment when boys put a video game system in your room. 

The problem then, is he’s playing said video game system instead of playing with her even though she’s wearing a skirt and bra and has given very strong signals. 

“Do I need to go?” 

“If you want,” Leslie says. She’ll just take care of herself tonight. 

He looks at her then, his eyes widening when they notice her lack of a shirt. “How long-”

“Twenty minutes.”

He swallows, still looking at her breasts. “Oh. And how long do we have until your mom is home?”

“Ten.”

He nods and pulls his shirt over his head, throwing it aside before kissing her to the floor. “I can do you in ten minutes.”

“Make it five,” she says, helping to get his jeans off. “Just to be safe.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Benji says, but she knows he’s not going to make any promises.


	6. Tummy Kiss

“Has anyone ever told you that you have the cutest tummy?” 

Benji opens his eyes to stare down at Leslie as she pokes his belly with her finger as if she expects it to make him giggle like the Pillsbury dough boy. “What?”

“You do,” she says, resting her cheek on him and kissing right above his belly button. “It’s cute and flat and just the right amount of furry.”

“Um.”

“It’s very sexy.”

He decides to take her word for it.


	7. You're My Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> takes place after first kiss!

Leslie’s getting her notebook for third period English when she hears the familiar popping of gum behind her. Slowly, she turns around, smiling so Cindy Eckhert doesn’t sense her fear. 

“Hi.” 

“Is that Benji’s jacket?” Cindy asks, blowing her grape bubble gum in Leslie’s face before sucking it back in. Next to her is Rebecca Sanchez, Cindy’s right hand. 

“Oh, yeah,” Leslie pulls the garment closer. It’s big and warm and smells like cinnamon and cloves. “He gave it to me.”

“Benji gave you his hoodie,” Rebecca repeats, her voice completely flat with disbelief. 

“Yeah, so…” Leslie trails off and tries to move around Rebecca to get to class, but her arm comes out, hand banging against the lockers to block Leslie in. 

“He said you could keep it?” Cindy asks, head tilted, gum popping. 

The first bell rings and Leslie takes a deep breath. She’s never been late to class before, she’s not going to start again.“Yes, I need to go-” 

The other girls just share a look though, one that Leslie can’t read at all. For all Leslie knows, they’re going to give her the ‘Benji is ours, hands off’ speech, coupled with the ‘come near him and we’ll rip your toes off one by one speech’ 

“I know you guys hang out-” What is she even saying? Is she already apologizing for having feelings for him? Oh no, they don’t know about the kiss do they? No one except Principal Howser was there- 

The girls just laugh though, as if Leslie hasn’t said anything. 

“I don’t believe it,” Cindy says, shaking her head. “Benji freaking Wyatt actually claimed himself a girl.” 

“Um, what?” 

“He loves that thing,” Cindy continues, ignoring Leslie’s confusion, picking at the shoulder. “Almost as much as he loves that stupid board. He never lets anyone even touch it.” 

“No one?”” the second bell rings. She’s officially late. Any minute they’re going to get caught and she’ll get detention and it’ll go on her permanent record and she’ll never get into college. 

Maybe she should turn to a life of crime. She could become a cat burglar, or maybe an art thief. She’ll have to practice getting past those green lazor beams, but she bets she could do it. 

She’s so distracted by her own thoughts that it takes her a second to realize Cindy and Rebecca are already running down the hall to their classes.

By the time Leslie get to English, her heart is beating so fast she’s afraid she might pass out. 

“Welcome to class, Leslie,” the teacher says as Leslie falls into her desk.”I was beginning to get worried.” 

“Sorry,” Leslie pants, pulling out her notebook. 

Between taking notes on Pride and Prejudice, Leslie considers the facts. 

1: Benji calls her cute. Boys do no call girls they like cute. 

2: But he kissed her back. 

3: But Leslie is not his type. The kiss could have been polite 

4: Benji kisses a lot of girls. What is one more? 

5: But he gave her his hoodie? And that is important? 

Finding herself still at square one, Leslie decides what she really needs is an expert. 

Leslie doesn’t have any classes with April, but they do have the same lunch period. It takes a while to find her because April likes to hide in weird places to eat, but eventually Leslie finds her behind the bleachers in the gym.

“Hi, April.” 

April only looks annoyed at being found for a second before moving over so Leslie can sit next to her. Leslie hops up on the ledge and unwraps her rice crispy treat, offering part of it to April, who takes it with a small ‘thanks’ 

“So-”

“Are you Benji’s girlfriend now?” April asks, cutting off whatever Leslie was going to say. 

“I’m not sure?” Leslie admits. “Cindy says-”

“You talked to Cindy? She’s terrible, don’t believe anything she says.”

“Oh,” Leslie says, looking down at her feet for a minute. “She said Benji never lets anyone touch his hoodie-”

“That’s true,” April replies. “If he let you have it it means you’re going to get married.” 

Leslie laughs. “I don’t think that’s what it-”

“Yes,” April says, her eyes locking with Leslie’s. “It does.” 

Oh. 

There’s a pause before April says, “You’re good for him.”

“Um, thank you, April.”

“Whatever. You’re in Abraham’s drama class right? What play are they doing?”

“Our Town.”

“Boring,” April declares. 

Lesile has to agree with her. 

Because her life is completely unfair, Leslie doesn’t seen Benji at all during the day. There’s one time when they’re both hurrying to the opposite ends of the school that she sees him and he says hi, but that’s it. 

One “Hi,” tells her nothing. 

Finally though, the last bell rings and she’s free to completely spiral. She rushes to meet Ann at her locker so they can walk out to the parking lot together. She’s not even sure what she’s afraid of exactly. That people are wrong and Benji doesn’t actually like her? For Benji to demand the hoodie back? 

Leslie does know one thing. She’s not afraid of Benji liking her. That’s actually a really good thought. It’s also probably not true, but it’s a nice thought. 

“Did I tell you I asked mom if I could die my hair?” Ann asks and it’s such a welcome distraction to Leslie’s thoughts that she nearly hugs her. 

“No! What did she say?”

“Well I asked if I could get those streaks you know the chalk ones that come out in like two days, but she said no of course, because first it’s coloring my hair and the next I’ll be getting my nipples pierced and I was like, mom, that’s a bit of a leap but then she yelled at me for taking back so-” 

“I think you would look cute with purple streaks,” Leslie says as they push the doors open to go out to the parking lot. She can already see them out there, skating around. 

She really hopes Benji doesn’t fall again. He hasn’t done that one trick in a while but every time he does anything her stomach flips. 

“Thank you,” Ann says. 

“Yep, like a cartoon princess,” Leslie adds just as they get to the lot. There’s a moment where she hugs Ann goodbye before she takes a deep breath and walks over to the nearly empty area they’re all skating at. 

“Hi guys!” Andy says, giving April a kiss before he skates over to where they keep their backpacks. “Hold on, Les, I gotta find my book-”

“Take your time,” Benji says, skating up to her. “I gotta talk to Leslie for a minute anyway-” 

Oh. Oh boy. Here it comes. Leslie raises her hand to unzip his hoodie to give it back, but he frowns and she stops, and still on the zipper 

“What?”

“You hot?”

“No.” The opposite actually. The hoodie is the only thing really keeping her warm. 

“Then why are you taking it off?” he asks. “Do you not like it?”

Leslie can feel everyone’s eyes on her, waiting for her response. If she says the wrong thing, they might murder her with their skateboards. Actually no, they would never do that. It might break them. 

“I love it,” she says, “I just though you might want it back.”

“I’ve got this,” Benji says, pulling on the burgundy pullover he has on. It’s nice but it doesn’t scream Benji like his black hoodie does. “This” he says, leaning in so close that she can smell the mint on his breath, “is yours.”

“Oh. Okay.” 

“Yeah, so anyway. I just wanted to say hi before you started with Andy. I missed you today.” 

“You did?” 

He smiles back and she feels dizzy. “Yeah, I did.” 

“I um, missed you too.” 

“Yeah?”

“Would you just kiss your girlfriend already?” April asks, “Some of us have things to do you know!” 

Ben shoots April a half-hearted glare, but before Leslie can open her mouth to say, “Girlfriend?” he puts his surprisingly warm hands on Leslie’s face and leans down, lips brushing across hers before it slowly deepens. 

The tongue piercing is very interesting. 

“Does this mean I’m your girlfriend?” Leslie asks when it ends. She really needs confirmation. 

“What else would it mean?” Benji asks, sounding as confused as Leslie’s felt all day. 

“I didn’t want to assume,” Leslie says, shrugging to seem casual, though inside she’s doing a cheer that involves a lot of choreography and spelling out “I have a boyfriend,” and “Benji.” 

“You’re my girl,” Benji says, but this time instead of kissing her, he just winks and hops onto his board and skates over to where April’s doing flips. Leslie watches them for minute, mostly because now that she knows for sure Benji’s her boyfriend, she can stare at his butt.

“Ready, boss?” Andy asks, reminding Leslie of her responsibilities. 

She hops on the car. “Let’s do this.” 

The quicker they work, the quicker she can go make out with her boyfriend.


	8. Crush (On You)

Leslie’s trying to study for her Geography test when she hears Benji curse beside her. It breaks her concentration, bringing her back to a reality where the flora and fauna of Denmark aren’t as important as the person sitting next to her. 

“What’s wrong?”

“Latin is a stupid language,” Benji says, glaring at his text book. “No wonder you’re dead.” 

Leslie doesn’t giggle, nor does she remind Benji he’s the one who decided to take three years of Latin instead of Spanish or French like her. She does, however, kiss his jaw. 

“You know what you need?”

“Pussy?” Benji asks, eyes wide and hopeful.

The thought heats Leslie from the inside out, but she looks at the clock on her dresser and shakes her head. “Not enough time.” 

“Boo,” Benji says, pouting. “What will help then?” 

“A brownie. I made some last night.”

He sighs and falls against her bed. “Yeah, okay. Put caramel on mine.” 

Leslie grins and kisses him quickly so she doesn’t just slide down his lap and completely forget about studying and goes down to the kitchen. 

She’s putting the brownies into bowls when she hears Benji yell, “Hey, can I borrow some paper?”

“Sure,” Leslie yells back, thinking nothing of it as she heats the brownies in the microwave. She then adds ice cream, caramel, hot fudge and whipped cream, grabs two spoons and goes upstairs where she finds Benji standing up, with one her notebooks from last year and it takes everything she has not to drop the bowls.

“What? What are you doing?” 

“Mrs. Benji Wyatt,” Benji reads. “Mr. Benji Knope. Leslie Knope plus Benji Wyatt. Benji Wyatt plus Leslie Knope. Leslie hearts Benji. Hillary Knope Wyatt, Madeline Knope Wyatt. I actually really like that one.” 

Leslie carefully sets the bowls down before she tries to lunge for the notebook. He keeps it from her though, laughing as he holds it out of her reach and continues to comment. 

“I like this heart with our initials it the best. Oh wait, is this us on a unicorn?”

“Give it back.”

“You know what I think is most interesting?” Benji asks. Leslie doesn’t respond, but Benji answers his own question anyway. “This notebook is dated 2010, but we didn’t meet until 2011. So either you added these things after we met, or…”

“Fine!” Leslie shouts, throwing her hands in the air. “I had a crush on you, okay?” 

Benji smiles. “Come here.”

“No. You’ll kiss me and then we’ll make out and we’re supposed to be studying and our ice cream is melting.” 

Benji just laughs and drops the notebook on her bed and goes to get his brownie sundae sitting back down. Leslie does the same, sitting down next to him. They eat, the ice cream more like soup and the brownie not as warm as it should be, but even a cold brownie is still a brownie. 

“I can’t believe you had a crush on me.” 

“Stop being so smug. You know very well no woman can resist you.”

Leslie watches from the corner of her eye as he finishes his brownie and puts the empty bowl beside him. Then she sees his hand come to her face, those long fingers as the move her hair from her face. 

“I liked you too, before we met.” 

She looks at him. Shocked. She always thought he grew to like her after they started hanging out. “Really?”

“Yeah. It’s always been you, future Mrs. Benji Wyatt,” he says, pulling her into his lap. This time she doesn’t fight it. She just sinks into his kiss and forgets about everything that isn’t her boyfriend’s mouth. 

She can study after he goes home.


	9. Pros and Cons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a twist!

Benji's laying on his bed, rapping along to Salt and Pepa when Leslie comes in, closing the door behind her. He stops mid verse to smile and say hi, but one look at her tear streaked face makes his smile fade. 

He’s quick to turn off the music and cross the room, gathering her into his arms. As she sobs into his shoulder, Benji wonders who he needs to punch. If that dick Jeremy messed with her again, he’s going to go beat him into a bloody pulp. 

“What happened?” he asks, drawing hearts and formulas onto her back to try to calm her down enough so she can speak. 

The words are muffled into his shirt, but he hears them all too clearly.

He feels like he's the one who just got punched. 

“Are you sure?” Of course she’s sure. This is Leslie. She probably took seven tests and went to the doctor just to be sure. 

Leslie lifts her head to nod. "Dr. Harris said so. That flu wasn’t the flu.” 

Oh. Fuck. This can't be happening. He's in a coma and dreaming of some alternate universe life. 

“Are you okay?” she asks, and he shakes his head, not because his world is spinning upside down, which it is, but because it should be him asking her that. 

“Are you?” 

“I’m scared,” Leslie admits in a small voice that makes Benji pull her back into his arms. “I’ve made a list of pros and cons but it didn’t help.” 

Benji wipes a tear off her cheek. “You know I’m going to love you no matter what, right?” 

“I know.” Her smile is what makes him believe her. 

"You wanna lie down?" .He asks. When she nods, he guides her over to his bed.  

“So,” she says, lacing her fingers with is in the small space between them.” How was your day?”

“Boring. I mowed the lawn. Had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, watched some skating vids on youtube. What about you? Other than-”

“Oh not much. Cried on Mom’s shoulder. Cried on Ann’s shoulder. Cried on your shoulder.”

“Your mom knows?” This just in, Benji Wyatt, aged 18, is fucking dead. Marlene is going to take his balls and hang them on her wall like a trophy. 

“Yeah. Well she was there when Dr. Harris told me. I don’t think she’s going to kill you though. Ann though...” 

“What do I do? Should I run away? Should we both run away? I’ve got some money we could move to Arizona.” 

Leslie giggles and cups his face, ending his panic attack before it can even begin. “No. And you know you don’t do well in the heat, babe.” 

“Canada then.” She just raises her eyebrows and he exhales. “Fuck. This is really happening, isn’t it?” 

“Yes sirree. And we’ll figure it out. Whatever we decide, right?”

“Right.” He meant what he said before. Whatever happens, he’s going to love her. “So uh, I’m guessing it was that weekend your mom was away, huh?”  

They’d spent that entire weekend wearing nothing but sheets. And even though Leslie’s on the pill they weren’t always careful. 

It was an awesome weekend. 

Now though, he’s pretty sure he’d like to smack his past self for even thinking about having sex with Leslie. Even if she is beautiful and tastes like whipped cream and makes him deliriously happy. 

“Yes. But you know I don’t blame you right? I was there too and I wanted it just as much.” 

“I know. But-”

Whatever argument he’s going to make is silenced by her lips pressing firmly against his. Benji finds himself breathing into the kiss, falling forward as her lips continue to cross his. And even though he knows they’re both still terrified and they’ll need to have an actual conversation about options soon, right now this is more important. 

Eventually her lips still on his. “I don’t suppose you’re in the mood.”

“Really, Knope?”

“What? It’s not like it can get worse.” 

Ben shakes his head and kisses her forehead. “I don’t think I’m ever going to get it up again.” 

Leslie cackles as she pushes Ben onto his back and climbs onto him. But instead of reaching for his pants, all she does is kiss him and then lay her head on his chest. 

“Your heart is racing.”

“No kidding.” 

She pinches his side, ignoring his cry of protest. “Don’t be a jerk.” 

“I’m sorry,” he says, meaning it as he leans down to kiss the top of her head. “Did I mention I had to use creamy peanut butter instead of extra crunchy today? And I'm pretty sure Henry drank the last Pepsi.” 

“My poor baby.” 

“Baby,” Ben says, unable to believe that one of them finally said the word. “You’re- we’re- we might be- having-”

“A baby? Yeah.” 

“Yeah.” He's still not convinced it's real. 

Leslie rolls her eyes and sits up, taking off her shirt and bra. “Don’t worry, I’m just taking this bra off. My boobs are already sore. Ann says they look bigger, do they look-” 

He snaps, coming up to kiss her, even though he’s 98% sure she just tricked him. Not that he cares, when her lips are so soft and she’s so pretty and her boobs do look amazing. 

She pushes him away. “I changed my mind. I want to talk about it.”

Benji’s actually relieved. She crawls off him and sits with her legs crossed at his feet. He stands and grabs a shirt for her, throwing it at her. She puts it on without hesitation and he sits in front of her, taking her hands into his. 

“I want to go to college,” she says eventually, looking down at their hands.

“Yes.”

“And you want to go to college too.”

“I don’t have to, but yeah.”

“And we’re very young and broke.” 

“Yes.”

“So those are all good reasons why we shouldn’t do it. Wait, what did you just say about not going to college? You have to go to college Benji.”

“It’s a wonder you and my dad don’t get along more,” Benji jokes, but Leslie just keeps staring at him, unamused. “Look, I’m not saying I don’t want to, just that, if you wanted, I could stay home and you could go to college and then I’ll go after you’re done or I’ll go to night school or take online courses or I don’t know. We’d figure it out. But it’s your body and totally up to you.” 

He’s as surprised as she is by his declaration. What is he doing, suggesting this?

“Oh.” She slowly exhales and nods. “Okay. Well, that’s an option.”

“But like you said, we’re broke. I do have some money but I was saving up to buy you something pretty, like a trip to Disney World. Although you’re probably too short to go on the rides anyway.”

“Shut up.” 

He sticks his tongue out at her. “Make me.” 

She does. For several minutes, in which they fall back on the bed and her hands slip under his shirt. 

“We don’t have to decide today, right? We could just, keep kissing?”

“Of course.” 

He’ll keep kissing her as long as she needs him to. 

 


	10. Chapter 10

They’re lying in their bed in their tiny basement studio apartment, her hair tickling his chest when Leslie says the words he’s been dreading to hear. “I’m bored, let’s do something.” 

“Like what?” Benji asks, hoping she’ll say go to the skate park but knowing she won’t. When Leslie says she’s bored and wants to do something, it means she wants to do something as a couple. 

It’s not that he objects to going on a date with his wife, it’s just dates typically cost money and they just spent their last dime on a crib and rent. If it wasn’t for her mother, they wouldn’t have food. 

“JJ’s?”

Benji shakes his head. Even though a huge stack of blueberry pancakes sounds amazing at the moment. 

“Putt-Putt? Bowling? The arcade? The zoo? a movie?”

“All of those things cost money, babe,” he reminds her, running his fingers up and down her arm. 

“Right,” Leslie says, kissing his chest. “Lemme think.” 

A few minutes go by, in which Benji thinks of nothing except how good Leslie’s hair smells and how soft her skin is and how if he could, he would spend the day in their bed, tangled with her. 

She sits up, despite his plea to stay against him.“I got it, we could take a walk around the lake!” 

“Yeah, okay,” Benji says, reaching for his jeans. “But if you call me Harry again I’m leaving.” 

“You would leave your poor defenseless pregnant wife?” 

“Is that my same wife that kicked Jamm’s ass last week?”

“He had it coming. He said something crude and unrepeatable about my breasts.” 

Benji nods and leans in to kiss her before helping her off the bed. “Come on, wife, if we’re going to do this we might as well do it right. We’ll make a picnic.” 

She kisses him so hard he nearly falls over. 

They pack peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and chips, as well as two bottles of caffeine free iced tea and some cheap store bought sandwich cookies that Benji thinks tastes like sawdust but Leslie’s pregnancy brain has convinced her are the most wonderful things on the planet. 

They’re halfway there when the first raindrop hits the side walk. Seconds later, the second hits, and the a third, and then it’s as if God has thrown the bathwater out and onto them. “Fuck,” he says, pulling Leslie’s hand to get her back home. God, he’s going to be apologizing for a week for making her walk. 

“Wait,” she says, not moving. She closes her eyes, letting the rain fall on her face. 

“Les-”

“We’re already wet, Benji. We may as well enjoy it.” 

There are little moments every day in which Benji falls in love with Leslie all over again. There are also moments every day in which Benji is certain he married a lunatic. 

This moment is both. 

“Yeah, okay,” he says, figuring it’s at least a warm summer rain. “One more minute.” 

“You’re bossy,” Leslie says,standing on her tip toes, lips sliding against his. 

“I’m the bossy one?” Benji asks, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah okay.”

Eventually, he convinces her they should go home. The moment they’re inside, she let’s out a disappointed sigh. “Well, boo.” 

“I’m sorry,” he says, lifting her shirt over her head. “Let’s get you out of these clothes and into the shower.” 

“Only if you come with me,” Leslie counters, as if Benji’s going to say no to that. 

Except their shower sucks. The water pressure is barely a trickle, the temperature fickle. So what should be a sexy, comforting shower is mostly a race between them and it, because at any minute it will go from delightfully hot to ice cold. 

He makes sure Leslie stays under the hot water the longest. He’ll take the cold. 

“I’m sorry about our picnic,” Benji says as they get dressed. 

Leslie shrugs. “It’s okay.” 

He can see though that it isn’t okay. Leslie wanted to do something with him and the rain ruined it. “Hey, I have an idea,” he says, “the food is still dry, let’s have our picnic here.”

“What?” 

He pulls the comforter off the bed and spreads it on the floor, then gathers their food, double checking to make sure it’s still dry before he puts it on the blanket. 

“Wait, we need candles,” Leslie says, going into their kitchenette to get the lighter. “And music!”

“I’ve got it,” Benji tells her, waving her favorite Sarah McLachlan CD at her. 

“I love you so much.” 

Benji smiles to himself as he goes to join her on the floor. He’ll be back in bed with her wrapped around him in no time at all.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a "deleted scene" in which Leslie meets Steven Wyatt

The question comes out at nowhere. One minute they’re making out and the next she’s saying, “So, when am I going to meet your dad?”

“Uh, never?”

“Come on!” she says, smiling as she runs her hands down his arms. “You met my mom.” 

“Yeah, and that went great,” Benji says, feeling dizzy from her touch. He wants to get back to kissing. 

“Mom loved you. And your dad is going to love me.”

Benji rolls his eyes. “Leslie, my dad doesn’t even love me. The only person he loves is Ulani.” 

“I’m sure he loves you,” Leslie says, her eyes and voice soft. 

Ben shrugs. It’s not like his dad is a monster. They actually get along pretty well, provided they stick to safe conversation topics like hockey and Prince. But the man is terrifying and there’s no getting around that. 

The last girl Henry brought home ended up running out of the house in tears. 

“As long as you love me, I’m fine.” 

She smiles, lips brushing across his. “I love you more than anything in the world.” 

Benji rolls her onto her back and that’s the last they talk for the rest of the afternoon. 

-

He should have known better than to think Leslie would let meeting his father go. 

“What’s your dad’s favorite dessert?”

“No.”

“No as in he doesn’t have a favorite dessert? What kind of person-”

“No as in you’re not meeting him. Ever.”

“Benjiiiiiii.”

“Leslie, the only time you’re going to meet him is when he’s on his deathbed and we go and I’m like hey dad this is my wife-”

“Awwww.”

“And then he dies.” 

Leslie rolls her eyes. “Stop being so morbid. I’m meeting him and that’s final. Now tell me what his favorite dessert is or I’ll just ask Stephanie.”

“Fine,” Benji says, “You ask Steph. She won’t tell you.” 

Of course Leslie shows up to his house with a chocolate cake. Benji glares at Stephanie, who just rolls her eyes and tells Leslie to come in. 

“This is the worst idea you’ve ever had,” Benji says, kissing Leslie’s head. “Are you absolutely sure you want to do this? Because we can go to the park instead-”

“Benji.” 

Benji freezes at his dad’s voice. Slowly, he turns to see his dad, flanked by Ulani. 

“Hey, dad.” 

Steven’s gaze turns to Leslie, who just smiles and says, “Hi, Mr. Wyatt. I’m Leslie Knope and I made you this cake.” 

“You’re the girlfriend.” 

“Yes.” 

“Benji’s talked a lot about you.” Steven studies her, and Benji’s reminded of Stacy, who never even made it this far. “You’re a lot shorter than I pictured.” 

“Oh.” She glances at Benji, who tries to reassure he with a smile. What he wants to do is grab her hand and run. But she’s here and if she’s so determined to make his dad like her, then she can try. He’ll just say he told her so later. 

“Was it Benji who told you I liked chocolate cake?”

“It was Stephanie. Benji didn’t think I should meet you.”

“That’s because Benji’s a coward.” 

The growl that comes out of Leslie is even scarier than his dad’s. “Now you see here,” she says, shoving the plate into Benji’s hands and stepping into his dad’s personal space.“Benji is kind and caring and very smart and he is not a coward and how dare you say that about him to me.” 

Steven stares back at Leslie. This must be what watching a duel in the old west must have felt like. Except one of them is a foot and a half taller and weighs a lot more and maybe Benji should just grab Leslie and go. 

But then his dad smiles. Or at least, what passes for a smile for Steven Wyatt. “Is that cake made from a box?”

“No sir. I make all of my desserts from scratch. It was my grandmother’s recipe.” 

“Well let’s have a piece,” Steven says, gesturing for them to follow him and Ulani into the kitchen. 

Stephanie grabs Benji’s arm as the other three disappear. “What just happened?”

Benji shakes his head. He doesn’t know. It might actually be a miracle. 

“Henry’s never going to believe this,” Stephanie says, making Benji laugh. 

“Not in a million years,” Benji agrees. He’s not sure he even believes it and he just watched it with his own two eyes. 

“Benji!” Leslie and his dad shout. “Where’s the cake?”

“Coming,” Benji says, going in to join them.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> takes place after they become official.

They’re going to get caught any minute now. Any minute, the doorknob will turn and Leslie’s ball busting mother will step inside, tired but also invigorated from a hard day at work and she will she her daughter on the couch, underneath a boy.

And it won’t matter that their clothes are still on. The only thing that will matter is there’s a boy, a boy Marlene hasn’t met yet, a boy who wears t-shirts with holes in them over thermal shirts, a boy with a tongue ring and maybe even tattoos- is making out with her straight a - perfect attendance record- only has her ears pierced daughter.

It’s kind of hard to care though, when Benji’s tongue is sliding against hers and she can feel said tongue ring and it feels very nice.

It makes her wonder where else it might feel nice.

It’s too soon for that though. They just started going out. This is their first make out session.

Leslie wraps her legs around his waist. Because it’s more comfortable. Yeah.

The kiss slows, becomes something more like an exchange of breath, but somehow it makes the experience more erotic.

He moves his hips and Leslie doesn’t care about her mom or their upcoming death or even school or becoming president. They all seem trivial when compared to the electric shock that just coursed through her.

It’s kind of silly though. She’s done more than this. She knows Benji’s definitely done more than this. There shouldn’t be this much joy or pleasure from some innocent grinding.

She rolls her hips too and suddenly it’s not so innocent.

She can feel him, where she wants him but still way too far away, and all she wants is to take up upstairs, strip him down to his socks and-

The Audi pulls into the driveway.

“Crap on a crayon.”

Benji slowly sits up, swallowing and looking panicked. “Do I run?”

“No. Um, no. It’s okay.” She sits up too, trying to straighten her clothes and hair out as fast as she can. At least he isn’t on top of her anymore.

The door opens and Marlene walks in, holding a sack of groceries. “Les, honey, get the door and come help me start dinner,” she says, walking past them as if she doesn’t even see Benji as she goes into the kitchen. “Oh and tell your boyfriend his jeans are unzipped. I’m assuming he’s staying for dinner.”

Leslie would jump into a hole if she wasn’t sure she needs to rescue Benji first though.

“You’re staying right?”

Benji’s eyes dart to the door like he’s thinking of making a get way, but then he nods, the fear not quite gone yet.

“Thanks, mom!”

It’s going to be a long night.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a prequel chapter, based on [ this amazing picture ](http://kickassleslie.tumblr.com/post/148124023848/a-benji-wyatt-doodle-in-honor-of-c00kie28) kickassleslie drew me for my birthday.

Leslie's walking up to the school when she sees him for the first time. He's in the parking lot with the other skaters. She's never understood the appeal of skateboarding, thinking it's rather dumb, but there's something about him that makes her stop. It makes no sense, given he looks like a typical skate punk. Torn jeans, wallet chain, , his dark hair is sticking out from his beanie in every direction. 

Okay, maybe he doesn't look like a typical skate punk. 

He takes off, jumping in the air. Leslie's breath catches in her throat. 

He lands safely, on his board. He high fives one of the other skaters, yelling, "Yeah!" and does a fist pump. 

Leslie's breath is still caught in her throat. Skating is stupid and dangerous but he makes it look almost cool. He skates around, and as he comes back in her direction, he looks at her. 

No, not at her. There's no reason why he would be looking at her. 

"Hey, Leslie!" 

Ann's voice breaks the spell. She turns her attention from the cute skater to her best friend. "Hi," she says, "That's a cute sweater."

"It's yours," Ann responds. "I borrowed it, remember? Are you okay?" 

"Great," Leslie says as they walk into the building. She needs to stop thinking about cute skater. 

It's only a little while later that Leslie sees him again. He's walking in the hallway, board under his arm, back pack slung over his shoulder. He stops at his locker and as he fiddles with the lock, Cindy Eckert comes up to him and whispers something in his ear. 

He smiles, and even though it's not directed at her, Leslie still feels like it is. 

"Hey, Leslie, do you have yesterday's English notes, I had a doctor's appoint-"

Leslie grabs Donna's arm and points to the cute skater. "Who is that?"

"Who?" Donna asks, "Oh, you mean Benji?" 

"Benji?"

"Yeah, Benji Wyatt. He's in my Latin class.." 

Latin. He takes Latin. Which means he's smart. That somehow makes it worse. If he was just cute she could write him off and move on to someone more appropriate, but now that she knows he's smart and probably kind of a nerd, the more appropriate he seems. 

"He's nice. Has a tongue ring." 

Leslie's not sure she needed to know that part. She watches as Cindy kisses Benji on the cheek and they walk off together, probably to look for a place to make out. 

"So about those notes?"

"Oh yeah, of course," Leslie says, finding and giving Donna her English binder. "Just don't-"

"Mess with your tabs. I know," Donna says. "So you want to jump on the Benji caboose huh?"

Leslie tries not to think about how small and cute his caboose is. "No, it's not like that. I was just curious." 

Donna smiles. "Ahhh, right. Well I've heard good things about that tongue ring." 

Leslie groans. She really didn't need to know that.


	14. the party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This has been alluded to a few times. Takes place before first kiss.

The music's blasting as Benji walks Wendy Haverford's house. A drunk jock bumps into him as he runs out the door, knocking Benji into a couple making out against the wall. 

"Sorry," he says, but they've already gone back to making out. 

He needs a drink. It's been a shitty week. Between his parents latest fight and Henry coming home from his first semester at college and making Benji sleep on the floor, and Leslie not speaking to him because- actually he doesn't know why she's not speaking to him. One minute they were fine. They were hanging out and he was starting to feel she liked him back. 

And the next day she was sitting at Justin Anderson's table and she wouldn't look him in the eye when they passed in the hallway. 

He walks through Wendy's house to the kitchen, avoiding the drunks on the way. A girl he's never met before grabs him and plants her lips on his. 

"Yeah!" she shouts, turning away. Benji wipes his mouth off and continues on. 

"Benji, you made it!" Wendy says, throwing her arms around him. She smells good, like mangos but not alcohol so he hugs her back.

"Some party." 

"Yeah. It's fun. Hey you'll never believe who I saw yesterday at the mall-"

Benji catches a glimpse of blonde hair go by. "One sec," he tells her, leaving the kitchen. In the sea of people he sees plenty of blondes, but none of them are the right one. It must have been his imagination. 

"Sorry, Wendy," he says going back over to her. "Who did you see at the mall?"

She hands him a beer and grins. "Hey, how about we go to my room?"

Benji thinks about it. He's been in Wendy's room before, on his stomach, settled between her legs and for a second, it seems like a great idea. 

But he wants Leslie. He wants Leslie more than anyone he's ever known in his life, and that includes Wendy. 

"I don't think so, sorry," he says, hoping she won't be too upset at the rejection. 

Wendy shrugs. "It's cool. I should go make sure no one's breaking anything valuable anyway."

He takes his beer and leaves the kitchen, only to run right into Ann. 

"Sorry," she says, "is Leslie with you?"

He knew he recognized those curls. "She's here?"

"Yeah. I saw her with Justin earlier but then they disappeared and-"

Benji's stomach clenches along with his jaw. "Justin Anderson?"

The day before, Benji saw Justin play with Leslie's hair. And he knows it's wrong to feel possessive over someone, but Justin's an asshole and he doesn't have the right to touch her, especially her hair. 

Ann nods. "Yeah." 

Benji throws his beer in the trash and gestures to Ann to follow him. He prays they're not in a bedroom. "Isn't Justin your ex?"

"No, no, we're just good friends," she answers as they climb the stairs. 

"Right," Benji says, not believing her. "You okay with them?"

"Are you?" 

Benji glances at Ann, knowing his expression will answer for him. He hates knocking on doors, but Ann has no problem banging on the doors with her fist and yelling Leslie's name. 

She's met with a lot of fuck offs. None of them sound like Justin or Leslie. 

"Well, that's good." 

She sighs, pushing her hair from her face. "She doesn't know you like her." 

Ben stops, seeing one of Justin's friends. He doesn't know his name but they're always hanging out. "Where's Justin?"

"Basement." The guy laughs. "He got this killer weed from Mexico that's like-"

Benji ignores everything else the moron says and goes on. "Fucking idiot." 

"You don't like Justin very much do you?" Ann asks as they head toward the basement. 

"Doesn't matter. She wants to be with him I shouldn't stop her, right?"

"No you should. It was like I was saying earlier. She doesn't know you like her and I don't really blame her considering the shit you do."

He stops again, this time to stare at Ann. "What shit is that?"

"Well, okay. Like earlier with Lucy. We saw you make out with her."

She must be talking about the girl who kissed him. "She kissed me. She's drunk. Look she's kissing Joan right now." 

"Fine." Ann rolls her eyes. "What about Cindy and Shauna and that other Cindy and Rebecca and Heather and-" 

"I get it."

"You go through girls pretty quick. I don't want Leslie to be another notch on your bedpost."

"Yeah, and Justin is so much better." Benji combs his fingers through his hair. 

"No, which is why I want to find them before that does happen."

"Yeah, it's got nothing to do with you being in love with him."

"I'm not. And if I thought Justin was a good guy for her I would say go for it, like she did when I liked Mark. And he was her first!"

"Are you drunk?" He asks, pretty sure he already knows the answer. 

"A little." 

Benji sighs. "Go drink some water. I'll go find Leslie." 

"But-"

"It's cool," he says. "I need to talk to Leslie about some stuff anyway." 

 

As Benji descends the stairs, both his anger and the smoke grow thicker. How could Leslie not know how he feels? Okay, maybe he's never said it, but since that day she took him to the hospital, they were texting every day (until she started to avoid him.) Plus he flirts with her constantly. 

Okay, maybe at first he was still messing with other girls, but that ended months ago. Okay, yes there was two weeks ago when he was so horny he couldn't see straight and ended in the Theater Department's costume room on his knees with Cindy Miller's leg draped over his shoulder. 

Whatever. It doesn't matter. He's going to make things clear now. 

Benji gets a buzz just from the smoke. He inhales, hoping it will chill him out enough that he's able to have this conversation. 

Wendy's basement is finished, with an L shaped sofa and a large screen TV. The last time he was down here it was clean. This time there are beer cans scattered around and he feels something crunch under his shoe. He hopes it's not glass.  
It takes him two seconds to find Leslie. She's sitting next to Justin, her head on his shoulder, cackling. He's ignoring her, telling some stupid story. 

Justin is nothing but stupid stories. 

"Hey, Benji," Wendy says, making him notice her for the first time. A couple of her friends are there too, and the stoners, Harris and Brett. 

On the coffee table, there are beer cans being used as ashtrays and a game of Clue no one has played in months. 

He knows because Professor Plum is in the kitchen where he left him. 

Leslie doesn't open her eyes. Justin holds the pipe to her lips. "Open up." 

"She's had enough." 

Leslie's eyes snap open, and she grabs the pipe, inhaling too fast. She starts coughing and Justin moves away, laughing. 

What Benji wants to do is punch Justin, but he takes the opportunity instead to step around the coffee table and take Leslie's arms. She tries to pull back but he lifts her to her feet easily. 

"We're going."

Her nose scrunches and it's almost too much for him but he keeps his resolve. First, he has to sober her up. Then he'll kiss her. 

"Dude," Justin says, "That's my girlfriend you're-" 

Benji wraps his arm around Leslie's waist and glares at Justin."No, she's not."

The asshole won't even stand up. There's no way Benji's going to accept she's his girlfriend. 

Even if he did stand up, Benji wouldn't accept it. Maybe he is possessive. But he just spent a year trying to get her to even look at him. And now he's spent six months laying the groundwork to get her to like him. 

Justin's not going to ruin that. 

"Whatever." Justin laughs. "She's a lightweight anyway." 

Benji ignores their laughter as he opens the sliding glass door that leads outside. He steps out, taking Leslie with him. 

The air instantly sobers him up. He watches Leslie's face, the same thing happening to her, only slower. 

He wonders how much she had. 

"Fuck," she says. Then she turns and stumbles over to the swing set. He follows, sitting on the one next to hers. 

"Les-"

"Did you just tell Justin I'm not his girlfriend?"

"Yes," Benji answers. "You can't really be serious about wanting to go out with him." 

She jabs him in the shoulder. "It's not up to you."

"Fine." Benji holds up his hands. "If you really want to back in there and get so high you can't see straight so he can rape you and tell everyone about it Monday morning, then go ahead." 

Leslie says nothing in response. She just closes her eyes and groans for a few minutes. 

"I'm gonna throw up."

He knew she had too much. "Go ahead." 

She doesn't throw up though. She stares at him and he finds himself staring back. 

How can she think he is anything less than in love with her? 

She turns away. "I'm never doing this again."

"Why did you? I thought you wanted to be president."

Benji actually doesn't expect her to answer. But she sighs and says, "I don't know, okay," before waking a few feet before turning around. 

"I don't know," she repeats. "I know I'm not cool or sexy or hot but-" 

He's never heard anything more ridiculous in his life. He jumps up from the swing. "Not cool?" he asks walking toward her, "Leslie, you're the coolest person I know."

Her lips twitch but he can tell she still doesn't fully believe him. 

"And the sexiest. You have to know that. I know I've told you that."

"No." Her nose scrunches again. "You said I was cute and adorable."

"You are cute and adorable. What's wrong with that?"

"Because," she shouts, loud enough he's glad the music's too loud inside. "You don't call Wendy Haverford cute or Cindy Eckert adorable and they talk. Wendy just told all of us about what you did to her."

"I didn't do anything to her tonight," Benji says, annoyed. "And I didn't make out with Lucy or whatever her name is." He looks up at the cloudless sky and wonders how he's going to explain this to her. What he wants to do is grab her face and kiss her, but he can't. Not now when she's probably still high. 

"Those girls," he says, eyes meeting hers, "are ways to pass the time. But you're my favorite person."

"I am?"

"Yeah. I mean every day I go to school and I just can't wait to see you. I want to be with you." 

Leslie glances down at the ground, probably thinking of her next. Seeing her shiver, Benji takes off his hoodie. "Here," he says, "put this on."

She does without argument. The sleeves are too long for her but it makes his heart burst into a million fireworks. 

"See," he says, tapping her chin with his thumb. "adorable." 

She bites her lip. "So um, you do want to kiss me and stuff?" 

"Yeah," he says, really wishing he could kiss her. "I want to kiss you and stuff." 

Lots of stuff. Maybe even the big stuff, that he's never done with anyone.

There it is, that beaming smile that made him fall for her in the first place. "Okay," she says, "soooo--"

"Not tonight," Benji says, watching as her smile falls. "I want us to be sober when we kiss. Tomorrow."

"I'm going to Indianapolis tomorrow with my mom."

"Oh. Yeah, I work Sunday. Okay Monday," Benji declares. "I'm going to kiss you on Monday." 

"Monday," she says, holding out her hand. He shakes it and soon he's hitting her with a bazooka, part of the secret handshake they made up one afternoon. 

"Leslie?"

They look up to see Ann standing on the Haverford's deck. 

"Ann!" 

Benji watches Ann as she carefully makes her way down the stairs and runs over to Leslie, gripping her in a tight hug. 

"Are you okay? We looked everywhere for you and I heard what happened and did you guys talk did Benji say he's in love with you yet because-"

"Okay," Benji interjects. "I think I better walk you two home."

They both giggle but say okay and walk with Ben toward the gate. 

The giggling continues to Ann's house. And then there's what Leslie refers to as positive yelling, in which they tell each other what they love about the other in loud voices. 

He can't wait for Leslie to positively yell at him. 

He really hopes it's about his sick moves on his board. 

"I love you, Ann!"

"I love you, Leslie!" 

Ben waits for Ann to go to her door. "Night Ann."

"Night," she says to him, nodding slightly He takes it to mean they're cool. 

They're halfway down the block from Ann's house when he takes her hand, lacing their fingers together. 

"You know," Leslie says, "I'm not sure if we should kiss Monday. I mean technically I did just get out of a relationship-"

His heart falls into his stomach. "What?"

"I'm kidding," she says, laughing. "Actually, I'm sorry about that Justin stuff. I just, I know I'm a nerd and I just wanted to you think I was cool."

"By dating a guy I hate?"

She pulls a face. "Okay, bad idea."

"I forgive you." 

"I forgive you to. For dumping him. He really is an ass." 

Benji laughs. "Yeah. Hey there's a gas station around the corner. Let's stop and get some water."

"Oh, and Ho-Ho's!" 

If this was anyone else, he would think this mean they were still stoned but considering it's Leslie, he can't tell. 

He buys two bottles of water and a package of Ho-Ho's anyway, along with a small box of Sugar Rice Pops for himself. 

"Want one?" she asks as she opens the package of her snack. 

"Nah," he says, knowing she really doesn't want to share. He's not a Ho-Ho's kind of guy anyway. "I'm good." He pops a few pieces of cereal into his mouth. 

She smiles. "Yeah." 

Leslie finishes her cakes quickly, licking the chocolate off her fingers. He tries not to leer, but it's impossible. 

He'll have to take a long shower when he gets home. 

They continue walking, throwing their trash in can by the bus stop on the way. Leslie fills the silence by talking about her favorite female leaders, though he suspects it has less to do with her wanting to talk and more to do with her guilt. 

"Hey," he says, stopping her. "You know no one is going to judge you for this. I mean look at Obama. He's smoked pot and no one cares. And by the time you're elected it'll probably be completely legalized." 

She throws her arms around him. Benji's quick to wrap his arms around her. Aware a car could come and run them over, but he doesn't care. Because she smells like chocolate and cream and her breasts are pressed against his chest and he wants this moment to last forever 

"Thank you," she says, pulling away. "Are you really sure you want to wait until Monday?" 

"No," he answers, "I want to make out with you like crazy. But you know."  
"You're the sweetest man in the world," she says, and the continue walking. 

All too soon, they reach Leslie's street. Somehow though, both of them slow, as if neither of them want the walk to end. 

"So, what's in Indianapolis?"

"Spa, lunch and shopping. Typical mother daughter bonding stuff."

"Ah."

"What about you? Do you bond with your father?"

Benji laughs. "Not really. Once a year he takes my brother and I camping but I hate it. I'm more of an air conditioning and video games kind of guy."

"I love camping." 

"Great. You can go with him next time then." He shakes his head, unable to believe he even said that. "I'm kidding." 

There's no way she's going camping with his dad. If Benji's careful, they'll never meet at all. 

She cackles and they reach her house. "Um, I guess I better give this back." 

"No," he says, stopping her from reaching up for the zipper. "Keep it." 

"Are you sure?" 

He studies her, her blonde hair and the freckles on the bridge of her nose and her blue eyes and the lips he can't wait to kiss. He studies her, wearing his hoodie, the hoodie he got for his first skating exhibition. He came in 14th because he missed his landing and wiped out, but they gave him an oversized hoodie it took him years to fully grown into. 

He's worn it practically every day since. The logo on the chest has practically faded away from the years and constant washing. 

It's his favorite item of clothing, besides his Letter to Cleo t-shirt. It's his favorite possession, besides his skateboard. 

"Yeah. I'm sure. It's yours now." 

She hugs him again. It's quicker this time, he doesn't have time to hug her back. "Goodnight, Benji." 

"Goodnight, Leslie." 

He waits for her to go inside before continuing home.


	15. Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> early relationship filth?

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,” Benji wishes the earth would swallow him whole or that he’ll wake up and realize this is a nightmare. A sticky, sweaty nightmare.

“Wow,” Leslie says, sounding almost breathless as she wipes her chin with her thumb and brings it up to her lips. Benji watches, stunned and embarrassed as she licks it off.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t ready I didn’t-” Fuck she’s never going to want to see him again. What girl wants to date a guy who can’t even tell them when they’re about to cum? What girl wants a guy to lose control because said girl surprised them by taking their dick all the way down their throat? What girl wants a guy who’ll cum on their face?

“That was awesome,” she says, climbing into his lap. He stares, taking in her wild hair and flushed face and swollen lips and streaks of white.

Okay, so maybe he underestimated Leslie. Maybe there is a girl who likes those things. He wonders what else she might like. He wonders what he’ll like.

He wants to discover them with her.

“You’re beautiful,” Benji replies, unable to really say anything else. She beams, and kisses him, allowing him to taste himself on her lips and tongue. He melts into her, pulling her closer.

He can’t wait for their next discovery.


	16. a nice day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> pre relationship fluff

“So,” Benji says as they wait in the lunch line, “I didn’t see your car this morning. Not that I was looking or anything, I just happened to notice I mean-”

“I walked,” Leslie interrupts Benji’s babbling, much to his relief. “It’s such a nice day so I walked.”

“Oh. Um, that’s cool. My brother dropped me off today. He’s home and needed to use the car so.”

“Ahh,” Leslie says, grabbing a brownie and putting it on her tray. Benji grabs one of the slices of pizza.

“You’re going to eat more than just that, right?”

Leslie grins. “Of course.” 

She grabs a rice crispy treat and throws it on her tray. “See, there.”

“Um, okay,” Benji says, shaking his head. “Oh, look they have fruit salad.”

“What’s the point of fruit salad without whipped cream?” Leslie asks, making a face.

Benji shakes his head again. He’s gotten to know Leslie pretty well these last few months since she started tutoring Andy and his crush has gone from an eight point five to a full ten.

But he’s also learned that she’s insane and her eating habits are less than desirable. It makes him wonder if in a past life she wasn’t murdered by vegetables.

He vows to never say that though, otherwise she might use it as a life long excuse to never eat them again.

To Benji’s surprise, Leslie does grab a club sandwich out of the cooler just as he reaches in to get a bottle of water. Their arms brush and she glances up at him, smiling

He swallows, smiling back.

“So, um,” he says as they walk to their table, “I think we live close so if you want we could walk home together. I mean unless you don’t want to.”

“Of course,” Leslie replies, beaming as she sits next to Ann.

“What are you doing?” Ann asks, curious

“Benji and I are walking home today together,” Leslie says, happily unwrapping her brownie.

Ann gives Benji a look, the kind that says I know what you’re doing and have yet to approve.

He’s so nervous the rest of the day he makes out with Cindy Miller instead of going to his drawing class. It relaxes him, making a girl cum with his mouth and fingers, but he can’t help but wonder what Leslie would look like. If her skin would flush red, if her eyes would be wide open, staring at him or closed tight. If she would be quiet or loud.

“You want me to?” Cindy asks, gesturing at Benji’s erection.

He shakes his head. “Nah, I’m good.”

“We’ve got time.”

Benji tries to think of something un-sexy, like the time he saw his grandmother in her underwear, but the only thing he can think about is Leslie how he wishes it was her in the basement with him.

“Um, yeah okay.”

Cindy falls to her knees and Benji closes his eyes and thinks about soft blonde hair.

The relief only lasts until he sees Leslie again in the hallway a couple hours later. She smiles and waves and he feels sick to his stomach with guilt.

Sometimes he wonders if she can tell when he’s been with a girl. If the words are written on his face. She’s never said anything, but once Tom mentioned the time he caught him and Shauna Malwae-Tweep fooling around at one of his parties and Leslie frowned, for just a fraction of a second.

He calms himself in the restroom. So what if this is the first time he’s been alone with Leslie since that time he broke his wrist? They’ll walk home. They’ll talk. They’ll get to know each other.

If he wants Leslie to be his girlfriend, he has to do this. He can do this. He can walk her home.

It’s another hour and thirty minutes before he actually gets to walk her home though, because they have one more class and then she has to tutor Andy.

He skates around the parking lot, doing moves he hopes impresses her even though her eyes are focused on Andy’s book while she reads him test questions.

“You’re being weird,” April says, skating around him in a circle so he can’t move. “Why?”

“I’m not.”

“Do you have a disease? Did one of your girlfriends give you VD?”

“They’re not my girlfriends,” Ben snaps. “And shut up.”

April just laughs. “Whatever, slut.”

Benji rolls his eyes and skates away from her.

Eventually, Leslie and Andy close their books and hop off of Andy’s car. “That was great today, Andy,” she says, giving him a high five.

Benji wants a high five.

In due time, he promised himself as he grabbed his bag. In due time.

“Ready?” Leslie asks.

“Um, yeah. Let’s go.”

“Oh, hey we can give you guys a ride if you want,” Andy says, not seeming to notice Benji glaring at him from behind Leslie.

Thankfully, Leslie says, “Oh, thank you but we’re going to walk. It’s such a nice day.”

“I think it’s kind of cold,” April says, rubbing her arms. Benji actually agrees with her but he’s not going to say that.

“Okay, well we’ll see you tomorrow, bye!” Leslie grabs his arm and starts walking.

“Leslie?”

She lets go off his arm much to his displeasure. “Yeah?”

“We live in the other direction.”

Leslie pauses, frowns, blushes and says, “Oh. Right. Haha my bad.”

“It’s cool.”

“It’s just that I usually go to JJ’s with Ann and we get waffles and do our homework.”

“Ahh,” Benji replies as they cross the street. “JJ’s is like almost across town though.”

“Well, we usually drive.”

“Right. Duh. Um, so why didn’t you go today?”

Leslie smiles and bumps his shoulder. “Because I wanted to walk home with you.”

He doesn’t know what to say. His heart and stomach are too busy going absolutely crazy for him to even think. Somehow how he manages to say, “Oh, cool.”

“So, Benji, what are your top five hopes and dreams?”

“Uh, wow,” Benji slides his fingers through his hair. “Okay let me think,” he says, “Okay well I want to win the gold at the X Games.”

“Okay.”

“And uh, I guess I want to go to college. I don’t know what I’d study yet though. Maybe Poli-Sci?”

“That’s two,” Leslie says, holding up two fingers.

“Um, right. Number three,” Benji says, kicking a pebble. “To um, have kids. Someday. Do you want kids?”

“Of course. Someday.”

“Someday,” Benji agrees. “Not like right now.”

“Oh no.”

“Okay, so two more? Um, to meet Tony Hawk and to be able to do a 1080,” he says, silently adding, ‘and to kiss you.’

Leslie grins. “Right. Well those are all good things, I suppose. How did you get into skateboarding anyway?”

“Um, I have a cousin who got a board for his thirteenth birthday. He fell off it and threw it and I asked if I could try and I did and I loved it.”

“Wow. So you’ve been skating that long?”

Benji nods. “Um, yeah. I could teach you. If you’d like.”

“Oh no.” Leslie shakes her head, though she’s smiling. “I couldn’t.”

“Come on, it’s easy. I’ll just teach you how to ride it.” He waves his board at her, grinning in the hopes she says yes.

“Ah, what the hell. But no funny business,” Leslie says, wagging her finger in his face.

“None,’ Ben promises, putting his board on the ground. “Okay, give me your hand and step on.”

She does, wobbling slightly. “Woah.”

“I got you,” he says. “Okay so keep one foot on the board like you’re walking and kick the ground with the other.”

She bites her lip but otherwise has a look of determination on her face. She does it, but pushes too hard, causing the board to go out from under her. He’s glad he’s still holding her, allowing him to catch her quickly before she can fall on her ass.

“You okay:?”

“Yes,” she says, and he realizes they’re hugging. And that it would be so easy to just lean down and kiss her.

“Benji?”

“Yeah?”

“Your skateboard.”

He glances over at his board, still rolling down the sidewalk. “Oh shit,” he yells, chasing after it.

They end up at her house ten minutes later. For part of she stands on his board while he holds her hand.

“I’d invite you in,” Leslie says, “but my mom.”

“No, it’s cool,” Benji replies. “I got homework and chores and stuff.”

“Yeah. But um, today was fun. Thanks for walking with me,” she says, smiling in a way that makes his heart do a 1080.

“The pleasure’s mine,” Benji says. “See you tomorrow.”

“See ya.”

He skates the rest of the way home. It really is a nice day.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a short interlude:

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and commenting and all your support! i love you!

Benji wakes up in the middle of the night, the bed empty beside him. He looks at the clock and groans into the pillow before he forces himself to get out of bed to go retrieve his wife. He finds her right where he left her several hours before, on the couch with her legs outstretched, laptop on her thighs.

“I’m almost done,” she whispers, not looking anywhere except for the glaring computer screen. 

He hums in response as he checks on Maddie. He makes sure she’s dry and then fixes her blanket. She looks like him, her brown hair as wild as his, her eyes dark brown. She has her mother's nose tough, and her smile and her tenacious spirit.

“Well at east one of us can sleep,” Benji says, envying her.

This time, Leslie does look at him. She says nothing, but what is there to say? He knows why she didn’t go to bed and it has nothing to do with homework or not being tired and everything to do the fight. 

He can remember every single word he said as they were just spoken. He regrets them, even though most of his accusations felt true in the moment.

“Leslie-”

“I’ll come to bed when I’m done,” she says, but what he hears his, you hurt me and I’m probably going to crash in five minutes on the couch. So he sits next to her, close enough that he can touch her but not as close as he wants. He wants to just melt against her and press kisses into her skin until she turns and kisses him, but that’s not going to happen.   
“What are you working on?”

“Just a paper for my English class. I finished the book so I wanted to get all my thoughts down.”

“Oh. For _Madame Bovary_ right?” 

“Yeah. How did-”

“I read it the other day when you forgot it. We went to the park and I read it-” he’s cut off by Leslie bursting into tears. “I know it’s not exactly three month old level-”

“I’m missing everything!” she wails. “I’m a terrible mother!”

For a moment he's startled by her outburst, but then the shock fades and he's just left with wanting to take care of her. “I didn't mean-"

"But you were right," she says. "You do everything. You watch her and read to her and cook dinner and what do I do? I snap at you for trying to talk to me. I'm a terrible mother and are terrible wife."

"No," he says, pushing her hair off her face. "You're not. You're the best mother and wife in the world. Do you think I would have gotten that coffee cup for you if it wasn't true? They don't just give those out to anyone, you know. There's a whole test you have to take."

She just sighs though. “The only time I get to see her is now. And she’s asleep! She probably doesn’t even know who I am.”

It's not true at all. She sees Maddie when she comes home in the afternoon (one of the many reasons Leslie chose all morning classes), but Ben takes the laptop and puts it on the floor. Then, he pulls Leslie close to him.”She knows who you are. And she’s going to know how smart and dedicated and how hard you worked to achieve your goals. And that you love her more than anything.”

“I do love her more than anything,” Leslie says, wiping her face. “And you.” 

“I know. And I’m sorry about what I said.”

She pulls a face but then smiles and kisses the corner of his mouth. "It's okay. You should go back to bed.”

He raises an eyebrow. “You?”

“I mean, i would, but I’m actually on a roll so-” Ben shakes his head and pulls her up from the couch. “Ben-”

“It can wait until tomorrow “ He expects her to argue, but instead she smiles and comes closer. 

“You’re such a good husband.”

“Yeah?"

“Yeah,” she says, leaning up to kiss him. “And you’re a very sexy dad too and-”

“Come on,” he says, taking her hand. “Let’s go to bed.”

They won’t be sleeping for a while.


End file.
